Hi, all,
I'm sure none of your remember me. I think I had submitted, maybe, 2 stories back when I was working at CVS and GAP for my highschool jobs. I had plenty more stories I wanted to submit, but back then I was actually concerned that it would, in one way or another, come back to bite me.
Of course, that was 8-10 years ago, so I doubt anyone would come after me if I related these stories to you now.
I do remember this site from the old days, with stories about customers trying to enter an obviously flooded (and therefore closed) store to return something, that disgusting fat slob who burped in the cashier's face after she gave him his total, and the classic moron who didn't know the difference between store credit and a credit card.
It's great to see this site is still online and active. I've since gone to college and got out of retail, although I indirectly deal with software clients, and I'll tell you, although retail deals with the public in a different way, it's not much better dealing with clients with similarly unrealistic expectations who are snarky and rude.
In any case, I am going to recall some of the most memorable moments from my retail jobs. Just to introduce myself, I worked at a CVS located in a fairly large shopping mall in suburban Providence. Drugstores are unique in that the clientelle you get are often in CVS solely because they are having a really bad day: They are sick, have a headache, ran out of maxipads, need to buy sympathy cards, or are last minute Christmas/birthday shoppers who are making a really quick (and cheap) stop at CVS to buy some novelty gift in our tiny seasonal aisle. Therefore, they are often just one bad-event away from blowing their top, and so if I ever dare scan something and the register has the wrong price in their system (which happens way too often), I usually get the brunt of their grouchy side and have to deal with a long rant about how their day is already ruined and now I've become a part of it.
On top of that, because we're in a mall, we have all that, plus the bored teenagers who are dropped off by their parents for the evening because they are sick of their antics at home, and decide to send them to the 1 million square-foot daycare center that is the mall. Friday nights are especially bad.
GAP wasn't nearly as bad, though. The clientelle was more mature, none of the Friday Night freaks usually entered the store (save for a kid who would often enter the GAP, fall down, and scream, "I FELL INTO THE GAP!" ad nauseum every Friday), and because I rarely worked the register and was more working the fitting rooms or the rest of the store, most of my stories were from CVS.
Sadly, both CVS and GAP have since closed in that mall, likely a victim of the recent recession. The stories I have I hold in my memories, which I hope last me a long time. Although some of the stories really frustrated me at the time they occurred, I look back on them and smile or laugh because in retrospect, some of the customers' over-the-top reactions to something that was beyond our control or even was a simple mistake on my part were just so ridiculous if they were in a cartoon or a sitcom, they'd probably be among the most successful shows on TV. It's unhealthy to dwell on them and it entertains me to tell the stories to a friend and laugh about them.
Long time no see
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